We at Woodform were very excited to be part of this playful and creative project, one that eventually won the 2014 Master Builders of Victoria’s Excellence in Construction Awards for “Excellence in Construction of Commercial Buildings $15M-$20M.”

Previously, we had done a multitude of facades that bend and curve, that come in all manner of size sequences, but never could we be this childlike “with the paint brush.” This construction, which boasts a vividly coloured exterior, allowed us to showcase the huge range of colours of our Concept Click Aluminium Battens. Click to View our gallery of more photos.

On the client brief

Qanstruct: Of paramount importance was the creation of an environment supportive of the creative goals of Moose. An integral part of this being staff welfare in the provision of a healthy work environment, including an abundance of natural light and ease of access to lunch room/break out, and sun-bathed external court areas.

The workstation environment was to be somewhat informal and “permeable” in that desk-bound activities could migrate to break out into formal/informal gathering and meeting places. All this aided by the architecture programmatically facilitating these transitions through form, colour, and materiality.

On the use of colour

Qanstruct: Externally, the building provides a richly coloured canvass which can be seen as a graphic description of the Moose story. This alludes to the intent of the building as container for fun and creativity, as is appropriate for a children’s toy company.

There is nothing foreboding—the entry is flanked by variegated coloured aluminium battens, and the soffit has a “lead in” created by taking the façade’s multicoloured aluminium panel and bending these to point to the entry. As adults, we reactively associate colour with youth, creativity, and vitality, all these being descriptors for Moose as a pre-eminent children’s toy designer.

On the choice of aluminium battens

Qanstruct: Aluminium battens were chosen to create a screen to the carpark and also a colourful skin to the building entry. The click batten system was chosen as a quick easy-to-install component system without the need for specialized labour and tooling and because the aluminium vertical batten screen gave the the opportunity for colour powdercoating. Longevity and low maintenance were also important considerations.

Woodform Architectural

Woodform Architectural provides feature linings for sophisticated architectural projects where the enduring quality and value of the building is prized. Only Woodform Architectural creates signature design opportunities with a seamless combination of modular concealed fixing and a wide range of linear textures.